Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: actions

Combating the Organized Crime and Drugs Trafficking

UNODC serves to the member states that ask for support with capacity-building of the key actors in crime prevention and with making the prevention systems more effective and attentive to vulnerable groups.

Since 1991, UNODC develops several actions to prevent crime and promote the Criminal Justice in partnership with the Federal Police Department, the oldest partner of the UNODC in Brazil. The actions include the improvement of the investigative capacity of the Federal Police, the efforts to control chemical precursors used in the manufacture of illicit drugs, the acquisition of high-tech equipment, the elaboration of studies to support work of the Federal Police.

Moreover, Training and capacity-building of police officers, as well as modernization of structures and training of police officers in other Portuguese-speaking countries by Brazil belong to the activities.

The South-South Cooperation

In the recent years, the flow of the international technical cooperation has no longer been provided by the North to the South, as it was observed during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Increasingly, countries with the technical knowledge and good practices in a particular area have prioritized the assistance to other countries - especially those with similar historical, linguistic and cultural characteristics - in development of proper solutions to the common problems. This new stream is called the South-South Cooperation and is seen as a priority among the countries of the region.

The Violence Prevention and Youth

Young people are at the heart of the violence problem worldwide. Most of the victims of violent deaths are young. On the other hand, the youngsters are among the principal authors of a significant share of these deaths. The risk of victimization of children and adolescents or their involvement with crime is strengthened, for example, when they live in slums or shanty towns with high population density, poor infrastructure, high levels of unemployment, and precarious or nonexistent social services and public spaces.

According to the UN recommendations, the prevention strategies need to be balanced and focused on the causes. In this view, several approaches can be used to prevent violence. The environmental and situational interventions may contribute to reduction of the opportunities for crime; the educational and social interventions promote the welfare and seek to prevent the involvement of families, children and young people in crime or victimization; whereas the community-based approaches help to build local capacities and social cohesion; and the social reinsertion approaches can prevent the relapse.

In this process of creating a culture of peace, based on the prevention of violence among youth, a central role shall be played by the non-governmental organizations, the civil society, as well as the private sector.

Combating the Gender-Based Violence

The violence against women represents a violation of dignity, security and human rights. The issue of violence against women is broad, particularly in the context of domestic violence, conflicts and wars, and human trafficking. Despite of being seen as a matter of private sphere, as something that occurs between four walls, it is not. The violence against women is a crime and the State has a responsibility to protect the female victims against the violence.

Some countries lack the legal framework criminalizing violence against women. Others have created the laws, but failed in their implementation. In order to support the Member States in the adoption and enforcement of law, UNODC has been working at the global, regional and local level.